Bharat QR Codes: Launched by NPCI for Scan and Pay Without Using Debit Card

Bharat QR Codes: Launched by NPCI for Scan and Pay Without Using Debit Card

Date: February 21, 2017

mVisa mobile wallet USSDIMPSBHIM

The Govt of India has been making a big push for digital payments since demonetization of old currency notes. In a move to promote Digital India initiative and encourage cashless payments, the government has introduced Unified Payments Interface (UPI) for smartphones, and Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) based mobile banking for basic and feature phones. The government has also introduced Bharat Interface for Money (BHIM) app, which is a unified UPI app, and Aadhaar Pay that enables you to make cashless money using Aadhaar card and your fingerprint for biometric authentication. Now, to further ease the payments process, government has introduced Bharat QR Code for cashless electronics payments.

Bharat QR Code is a common QR code built for ease of payments. It is a standard that will support Visa, MasterCard and Rupay cards for wider acceptance. Currently, if you want to make a cashless payment at most stores, you need a credit and debit card to swipe and enter the PIN code for authentication. However, Bharat QR code will enable the merchants to accept digital payments without the Point of Sale (PoS) swiping machine. It will allow customers of any bank to use their smartphone app to make payment using their debit card. In terms of benefits, merchants will no longer need to invest in buying the PoS machine. With no PoS machine, merchants will also be able to do away with the transaction fees charged by the banks for using the PoS terminal.

In short, you will need your bank app or BHIM app installed in your phone. At the merchant’s store, open the app, tap on Scan QR Code or Scan & Pay (option will differ from one bank to the other) and scan the Bharat QR Code. Once the code is scanned, you will have to enter the amount that you want to pay, add a remark and enter your four-digit passcode. Once authentication is complete, the money will be transferred to the merchant’s bank account.

How will merchants benefit from Bharat QR Code?Merchants will simply need to generate the Bharat QR Code, take a print out and stick itat their payment desk. The payment will take place via (Immediate Payment Service) IMPS and the money will be instantly creditedinto their bank account. Unlike Paytm,Freecharge and Mobikwik, merchants will no longer have limits on the amount of money that they can accept every month. Also, the hassle of transferring money from wallet to bank account will be eliminated — further making it easier accept digital money.